William Allen Ure wasn’t anyone extraordinary. His story is just one of kindness by a local community, and a small puzzle as to how things ‘worked’ in the early 1870s. As the main illustration s...Read More
Carlisle Central School, in the early years of the 19th century, was set up to counter ‘the pernicious effects’ of the Industrial Revolution. A worthy (if perhaps self-interested) venture, it also...Read More
Newbiggin Hall, in Cumbria, is more than 2,500km from Belgrade. But it has an important connection to the events that tipped Europe into the madness of the First World War. This third post on the Crac...Read More
Whisky and water link three otherwise random news stories, two from 1895 and one from 1833. The first is a cautionary tale about drink (but not as you might expect). The second shows an interesting at...Read More
William Dacre, the vicar of Irthington, featured in my post on Cumbrian wedding invitations, because of his not-unreasonable objection to being barred from his own church. What started as a quick che...Read More